January 2026

NONPROFITS & PHILANTHROPY

How nonprofits and philanthropists are adapting to survive and serve amid growing uncertainty The Business of Giving

22 Nonprofits adapt as federal funding shifts 30 Protecting trust in the nonprofit sector 38 Rebuilding local news, nonprofit-style 51 A smarter path forward for wine 66 Leadership with impact, hear from Michelle Leisen Inside:

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January 2026 CONTENTS • Volume 51 • Number 1

50 YEARS OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

LEAD STORY 22 Beauty or Beast? Susan Wood

FEATURE STORIES 30 Bad Samaritans

Jean Saylor Doppenberg Why nonprofits are prime targets for fraud—and how smarter controls can stop it

Federal funding cuts loom, leaving North Bay nonprofits bracing for harsh realities ahead.

WORK/LIFE 15 Office 16 Restaurants

38 New Journalism

Jason Walsh Can nonprofit newsrooms revive local journalism as hedge funds hollow out newspapers?

46 Salmon-fishing industry swimming upstream Jessica Zimmer Shrinking salmon seasons leave North Bay fishing businesses fighting to stay afloat

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 5

DEPARTMENTS 12 The 707

COLUMNS 11

Editor's Note Rosie Padilla A new chapter and continued commitment to the North Bay

The latest news from Sonoma and Napa counties

The 415 The latest news from Marin County

Econ 101 Robert Eyler History offers clues as AI reignites fears of mass labor displacement

The Month In Numbers A look at the key figures shaping life in the North Bay Dine Wise Jason Walsh 630 Park Steakhouse inside of Graton Resort & Casino

Only In Marin Bill Meagher From wine shops to car lots, tariffs and loss leave a mark on Marin

Tech Talk Michael E. Duffy AI voice cloning fuels terrifying scams and why skepticism is your strongest defense Christina Julian One Napa favorite closes as new dining, wine, and luxury experiences step forward Napa Insider Vine Wise Adam Lee Five resolutions urging the wine industry to market smarter, collaborate more and reconnect FROM FIX TO FINISH Sir Fix-a-Lot Do natural remedies really stop invasive ants when winter rains drive them indoors?

Great Tastes Alexandra Russell Calistoga Passport: Winter in the Wineries

What’s Happening Upcoming North Bay events

Biz Scene Powerhouse Ladies at the California Theatre

Beyond the Boardroom Rosie Padilla Michelle Leisen, executive director of Read On, Sonoma

/northbaybiz

@northbaybiz

NorthBay biz (ISSN No. 1542-3549: USPS 097-770) is owned and published monthly (plus three bonus issues annually) by North Bay Media Group, LLC. Editorial offices are at 3392 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403 USA: (707) 528-4434. Sub- scription price is $35 per year. Periodicals Postage Paid at Santa Rosa, CA 95402 and at additional mailing offices. Copyright 2022, NorthBay biz. Reproduction of this issue in whole or in part is strictly forbidden without written permission by the publisher. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NorthBay biz, 3392 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403 USA.

Printed by Publication Printers Corp., an FSC Certified printer. Please recycle this magazine.

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January 2026

THE NORTH BAY’S LEADING CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS

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Celebrating 50 Years

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Managing Editor

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The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise is committed to addressing the issues facing our community, partnering with local and global organizations donating resources and volunteer time.

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Marketing Consultant

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Writers Jason Walsh Jean Saylor Doppenberg Jessica Zimmer

Over the past year the club has dedicated hundreds of hours supporting local initiatives such as women’s shelters, schools and food banks, while Santa Rosa Sunrise Rotary has transformed lives globally by providing eye and dental care, distributing over 35,000 eyeglasses and performing cataract surgeries, funding solar projects in Haiti and building a surgery center in Nicaragua.

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8 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

Nourishing More Than Finances

A strong community starts with full plates and open hearts. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Redwood Empire Food Bank to help end food insecurity right here at home. Together, we’re supporting families and neighbors by ensuring access to nutritious meals, because no one should choose between putting food on the table and paying bills. Learn how you can help support Redwood Empire Food Bank this year! refb.org

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Editor's Note

At a moment of recalibration

By Rosie Padilla C

hange is rarely abstract in the North Bay. It shows up not only in balance sheets and budgets, but in the everyday

local journalism itself — a topic that sits at the intersection of business, civic life and community identity. Following the sale of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat to hedge fund Alden Global Capital — once described by Vanity Fair as “the grim reaper of American newspapers” — former Sonoma Media Investments COO Troy Niday is betting on a different model. His forthcoming nonprofit newsroom, Press Onward, aims to rebuild community-based journalism and civic engagement at a time when

decisions people make about work, community and quality of life — and it often lands first on the institutions and industries residents rely on most. That reality frames this issue of NorthBay biz , which arrives amid a period of transition for the publication. Following recent staffing changes, I have assumed the role of managing editor. I’d like to take a moment to

consolidation and cost-cutting have hollowed out newsrooms nationwide. Finally, we look to the water. As the California Department of Fish and Wildlife scales back salmon fishing seasons in an effort to rebuild depleted stocks, fishing-related businesses across the region, from charter operators to tackle shops, are navigating both economic uncertainty and cultural loss. With just four legal recreational fishing days allowed in 2025 and commercial ocean salmon fishing shuttered since 2023, many businesses say additional federal emergency funding may be the difference between staying afloat and closing their doors. This issue also marks an evolution in how we bring that coverage to readers. Beginning this year, NorthBay biz will publish six issues annually, a shift from our previous monthly schedule. The change reflects a deliberate move toward depth over frequency — allowing us to more thoughtfully curate each issue around the conversations, industries and people shaping the region at key moments throughout the year. Rather than covering everything all the time, this approach gives us the space to go deeper and deliver a magazine that is more intentional, more immersive and more reflective of how business and lifestyle intersect in the North Bay. Taken together, these stories reflect a common thread: adaptation under pressure. Whether the subject is nonprofits, media, fisheries or other pillars of the North Bay, economic shifts are inseparable from the way people work, live and engage with their communities. Our role is to document those changes, ask hard questions and provide readers with the insight they need to understand what’s changing and why. g

Rosie Padilla, managing editor of NBb

recognize and thank former Editor-in-Chief Jason Walsh for his contributions to the magazine and for helping shape its editorial voice. Our mission moving forward remains unchanged: to provide clear, locally grounded coverage of business and lifestyle across Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties, and to report with context, accuracy and depth on the forces shaping the regional economy as well as the way people live within it. Several of this issue’s features examine what happens when systems under strain are forced to adapt. In her reporting on H.R. 1 — formally known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — Susan Wood speaks with nonprofit leaders on the front lines of food assistance, housing support and health care, including United Way of the Wine Country, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Santa Rosa Community Health, UpValley Family Centers and more. As federal cuts to needs- based programs begin to take effect, these organizations are bracing for consequences that will continue to ripple outward into the broader community. Vulnerability within nonprofit systems is also the focus of Jean Saylor Doppenberg’s examination of embezzlement and fraud. With limited IT budgets, small teams and aging infrastructure, nonprofits are often uniquely exposed to internal theft. Drawing on recent cases involving organizations such as the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) and the Finnish American Home Association — along with expert insight from the CVNL and Santa Rosa attorney Daryl Reese — the story underscores why robust internal controls are no longer optional for organizations entrusted with public support. Elsewhere, the issue turns its attention to the state of

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 11

The 707

Pro soccer evaluating Sonoma County Fairgrounds for stadium Professional soccer is eyeing the Sonoma County Fairgrounds as a potential site for matches and events. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this week approved a Letter of Intent with the United Soccer League—the largest professional soccer organization in the U.S.—launching a process to evaluate the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, and other county-owned properties in Santa Rosa, for a potential new multi-purpose stadium and mixed-use entertainment district, county officials announced this week. The City of Santa Rosa has a similar agreement with USL. USL has expressed interest in Santa Rosa as a potential expansion market for professional men’s and women’s soccer—and the county-owned fairgrounds has emerged as a potential location. The league is looking to build a stadium that would host at least 5,000 spectators. To finance the project, the county anticipates the league will propose a mixed-use entertainment district that would include housing, retail and other uses. The agreement doesn’t commit the county to any funding or proposal agreement but allows the soccer league to study the fairgrounds for consideration of design ideas and financing. The negotiating period runs through Sept. 17, 2026.

Board of Supervisors Chair Lynda Hopkins said she’s excited by the possibilities. “Professional soccer has the potential to bring new energy and activity to the site, and we’re committed to working closely with the community as we explore what this could look like,” Hopkins said in a statement from the county announcing the agreement. The board allocated $30,000 for public engagement and legal review, and also agreed to form an ad hoc committee, led by Supervisors Rebecca Hermosillo and Chris Coursey, which will guide staff as the County evaluates a potential public-private partnership with USL to develop a professional soccer stadium at the fairgrounds. A series of public meetings will take place in early 2026 to gather public input on the potential of the sports complex— JW

Mumm acquired by local Trinchero Family Wines Mumm is still the word in Napa sparkling wine, as Pernod Ricard is reportedly selling the internationally known brand to Trinchero Family Wine & Spirits for an undisclosed sum. The St. Helena-based wine brand includes such well-known labels as Ménage à Trois, Sutter Home and Hanson vodka in its portfolio. Bob Torkelson, president of Trinchero, described the acquisition as a “strategic addition.” “As one of California’s top sparkling brands with a loyal consumer base, we’re confident it will play an important role as we continue to drive sustained growth for Trinchero Family Wine & Spirits,” Trinchero said in an announcement of the sale, which is expected to be finalized in spring 2026. Pernod Ricard said the move will allow the French company to concentrate more on its Champagne and spirits brands.— JW

Scott Orr tapped to lead Permit Sonoma Longtime Sonoma County planning official Scott Orr has been named the new director of Permit Sonoma, the county’s planning department. Orr had been serving as interim director since July, when former Permit Sonoma director Tennis Wick announced his retirement. Orr has been with Permit Sonoma for nearly a decade, beginning as an entry level planner processing permits, going on to become Deputy Director in 2020, according to a Permit Sonoma announcement. Scott Orr, who has worked through the ranks of Sonoma County’s permit and planning department, has been named the director of Permit Sonoma. Sonoma County Chief Executive Christina Rivera highlighted Orr’s knowledge and temperament in expressing her confidence in his ability to lead the department into the future. “He is deeply familiar with the nuances of the planning and permitting world, and he knows all of the major projects that Permit Sonoma has undertaken,” said Rivera in the announcement. “He was recently elected vice president of the California County Planning Directors Association, so he clearly has the respect of his colleagues.”

Orr is tasked with overseeing the county’s consolidated land use planning and development permitting agency, where any land development or construction in the unincorporated area of Sonoma County is reviewed, permitted and inspected. The department includes Code Enforcement, Engineering and Construction, Fire Prevention, Natural Resources, and Planning divisions. Orr has a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and an undergraduate degree in environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, county officials said.— JW

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January 2026

The 415

Caltrans to review, update carpool lane hours after commuter backlash

North Bay commutes might have some relief in sight in 2026. After significantly expanding the duration of the HOV lane hours during the peak morning and afternoon commutes, Caltrans has agreed to review and update carpool lane limits following vocal backlash from commuters whose time stuck in stop-and-go traffic increased markedly since the new times went into effect in September. Caltrans has agreed to complete a traffic data analysis and determine permanent HOV lane hours by the end of January 2026, then quickly implement the updated HOV hours with signage changes reflecting the new hours in February, North Bay transportation officials said Dec. 19 in an announcement.

The unpopular carpool lane time increase came on the heels of the opening of new north- and south-bound lanes along the so-called Novato Narrows, an infamous commute bottleneck that had slowed traffic for decades prior to last summer’s completion of the years-long project to widen the 16-mile stretch. Caltrans in September changed the HOV lane hours to conform with those used throughout most of the rest of the Bay Area. Marin transportation officials raised concerns about added slowdowns at the time, and commuters almost universally panned the new hours when they went fully into effect.— JW

Nick’s Cove ‘shack’ is back An iconic pier on Tomales Bay is welcoming visitors back to its popular “boat shack.” Two years following a fire that destroyed the well-known structure at the end of the pier at Nick’s Cove in Marshall, a new boathouse was officially unveiled Dec. 10. The original boathouse, which dated back to the 1930s, was lost to a fire in January of 2024. The Tomales Bay resort and restaurant at the time vowed to rebuild the iconic structure and replace the vintage heirlooms that were lost in the blaze. Known fondly as the “boat shack,” the new building features a large deck and a picture window on the western wall. Like in its previous incarnation, the shack is also home to a piano for guests to play and a host of nautical décor along its walls. It also has a gas stove “for warmth and ambience,” Nick’s Cove officials said in an announcement. The restaurant built and maintains the boathouse, though the pier itself is for public access. “Now that the Boat Shack is back, it operates much in the same way it did before,” the announcement added, reminding visitors that the shack lacks table service. “Guests may order food and beverages from the bar and walk their food down to the boat shack to enjoy it.” Nick’s Cove is at 23240 Highway One in Marshall. Visit nickscove.com .— JW

SMART, other transit systems, now using credit cards Those public transportation Clipper cards are being clipped. Or, rather, they’re being supplemented by an easier way to pay for rides—credit and debit cards. Beginning this week, such North Bay public transit systems as SMART, Petaluma Transit, the San Francisco Bay Ferry and Golden Gate Transit will switch to the Tap and Ride system, which is intended to make it easier for commuters and travelers to board and pay for transit. Clipper cards, which are purchased at station kiosks and require uploading money to pay for rides, will still exist as part of the Next Generation Clipper process, which will offer various benefits and discounts to riders still using the Clipper cards. Transit administrators expect the more flexible payment system to result in an increase in ridership.— NBb

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 13

THE NORTH BAY’S LEADING CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS

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Work Life Office

Flatten down the hatches! Eliminating middle managers could mean stormy days ahead for some companies

F or some, the “great flattening” might be the hoped-for result of a post-holiday gym membership. But for businesses, it indicates a major transition in the workplace. The Great Flattening refers to the growing trend at companies to downsize middle management positions—reducing the number of supervisors within the workforce hierarchy. The term comes from the idea that workplace hierarchies take on a pyramid shape, with a few execs at the top, supervisors in the middle and the many workers at the bottom; by removing the middle, the shape flattens. Some describe it as an “unbossing”—the relatively untested concept that lower- level employees can simply manage themselves. The origin of the trend is generally tracked to the many tech-firm layoffs in 2024, before spreading to other industries such as retail, finance and government. When the pandemic inspired many people to abandon their jobs during the so-called Great Resignation, the ensuing years led to an over-hiring phase. While there is a cost saving that comes with fewer positions, the primary motivation for “flattening” is efficiency, say labor watchdogs. With fewer communication gatekeepers, companies believe decisions can be made quicker, leading to improved response time to customers and clients. And why is this suddenly By Jason Walsh

possible? Why, AI of course! Artificial intelligence and advances in project-management software have rendered the role of many layers of management redundant. In 2024, layoffs of middle managers were up about 9%, according to Live Data Technologies, a job-tracking firm. "You can't go faster and be more connected to a larger ecosystem if you're having to go up and down a hierarchy for every decision," Deborah Ancona, an MIT management professor, told Business Insider last year. That said, working stiffs shouldn’t get excited to kiss goodbye to their foreman just yet, say employment experts. Many such moves don’t eliminate employee oversight, they just shift that oversight to other managers who soak up an increasing number of direct reports. HR firm Gartner found that between 2017 and 2023, the average number of employees per manager jumped from five to 15. But some companies are learning there’s a good reason a conduit between executives and frontline staff is necessary. Brad Smith, a science officer at workforce-solutions company MeQ, says a quality manager can be good for morale. “The greatest suffering will be among individual contributors on teams where middle managers have been made obsolete,” Smith told hrmorning.com , noting that a

quality supervisor can mitigate burnout, turnover and departmental squabbles, among other things. “The most consistent predictor of a positive [workplace culture] is having a manager who is intentional about looking after team mental well-being.” Another HR exec, Beth Steinberg, told the Wall Street Journal that all this unbossing is simply leaving those few managers who remain without a means to adequately guide and support their teams. “They cannot spend time with their employees, they cannot help develop their employees,” Steinberg said. “Really the only thing they can do is push the work forward.”

Should your company flatten?

Here are 7 things a company should consider before foregoing with middle managers, according to hrmorning.com :

• Can other managers absorb some of the management duties? • Are the employees impacted by the layoffs prepared to navigate work with less guidance? • How will the layoffs affect morale,

productivity and turnover? • Will employees be able to coordinate and cooperate to meet goals? • How much realignment will we need to do to ensure we meet goals—and are we able to scale up in time?

• What technology changes will we require, and can we train employees to handle those changes? • What are we willing to give up to make a flattening work?

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 15

Work Life Restaurants

California eateries need freshening up, survey finds Golden State ranks third worst for restaurant hygiene, according to report

I t’s well established that the North Bay is known for its excellent restaurants—with Michelin-stars and celebrity chefs throughout Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties. However, the eateries across the state as a whole could use some freshening up, according to a recent survey. By Jason Walsh

population-weighted differences, though denser cities will inevitably have more overall reviews. The reviews were analyzed for keywords

the Top 10 average. Zach Kanoff, spokesperson for Affordable Seating, said with the growing pressure of working in hospitality, it’s only natural that

mistakes will be made. Still, he said in an announcement of the survey, “It's shocking to see a high volume of complaints regarding food hygiene.” He said restaurants (and customers) should always be on the lookout for unwashed plates, glasses or cutlery, plus food not being warmed through, or meat not being thoroughly checked before eating. “If a complaint is necessary, it’s

A new report from Affordable Seating, a company providing expertise in restaurant furniture, places California as third among states with the poorest hygiene ratings. The company researched TripAdvisor reviews with ratings of 2.5 (out of 5) or lower that

reference poor food hygiene or cleanliness. The only states rated worse than California were New Jersey—at No. 1—followed by Florida. The keyword sweep focused on each state’s largest cities, mitigating some

such as “dirty restaurant,” “rats,” “roaches” and “hair in food,” according to Affordable Seating. The Golden State had the overall most mentions of “rats” or “roaches,” the survey takers observed—101% higher than

worth making one,” he said. “Hopefully, by doing so, the establishment will improve the quality of its food, making the customers happy and reducing the number of negative reviews.”

Here are the Top 10 states with the dirtiest restaurants, according to a survey of TripAdvisor reviews: New Jersey Florida California Arizona Texas Louisiana Maryland

Nevada Georgia —Source: Affordable Seating

16 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

2 Number of months a teenage campaign volunteer for congressional candidate Eric Jones had been “tracking” 4th District Rep. Mike Thompson under the auspices of “opposition research.” Jones is hoping to unseat the 14-term congressman in the November election. 107 The City of Petaluma’s ranking among 108 Bay Area jurisdictions on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s annual Pavement Conditions Index. The only city/county with worse road conditions is Vallejo, according to the MTC list. 3 The number of Sonoma County jurisdictions out of 10 to earn a ranking of “good” on the MTC list: Cotati, Healdsburg and Windsor. $2.4 million Amount creditors claim alleged Ponzi schemers Tim LeFever and Ken Mattson transferred to LeFever’s mother-in-law leading up to the duo’s company bankruptcy filing and various legal charges against them on behalf of more than 600 investors who say they were bilked by the disgraced real estate financiers. 83 Age of Kathleen Hamlin, a Dixon resident and LeFever’s mother-in- law, who is now being identified as a target for litigation. Mother-in-laws always get a bad rap The Month In Numbers A look at the key figures shaping life in the North Bay Napa County 4 Number of times the volunteer, Spencer Fields, said he had surveilled Thompson, which included parking outside the congressman’s St. Helena home for several hours—which Thompson described as “disturbing” and intimidating to his family. Following an investigation by U.S. Capitol Police, Fields, 19, vowed to discontinue the surveillance. Sonoma County Spy game

Marin County

And many mooore…

175 Number of years since Marin County was created, following the adoption of the California Constitution in 1949. The county was named for Chief Marin, a leader of the Licatiut tribe, who fought many fierce battles against the Spanish. County officials hosted a celebration of the anniversary Dec. 15 in San Rafael.

15,000 Years since Native peoples are estimated to have first populated Marin County, beating Europeans here by approximately 14,550 years.

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 17

ECON 101

AI as the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

By Robert Eyler I n October 2025, a portion of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences went to Joel Moykr, an economic historian who taught at Northwestern University. His work on the Industrial Revolution as an economic phenomenon, specifically between 1700 and 1900 in Europe, became a foundational reading in graduate courses in economic history. At UC Davis, where I went to graduate school in economics and studied economic history, coursework and readings focused on how industrial revolutions emerged from invention, innovation and empire, including the United States shifting from a colonial territory to a world economic power. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a new technology for planet Earth. Still, the amount of funding that has made its way to the future is at historic levels, raising concerns and creating unspeakable fortunes. There is a lot of talk, primarily because it fills headlines, that we are on the precipice of a fourth industrial revolution. A common theme across the previous three revolutions is

the mechanization of human tasks. This started with steam engines, then electric engines, and now (maybe) synthetic brain power. In all cases, the threat of labor displacement en masse has served as a specter, casting a shadow over the positive aspects of new technologies. Like other “new” technologies, we are in a wave of innovation on previous technologies (think ChatGPT 5.1 had a

1.0 version in the past, hence innovation, not invention). Economists and historians are beginning to look for

18 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

parallels and clues to the past amid political, economic and social risks and the ways AI may evolve in the 2020s. For the North Bay, especially anyone who was in Sonoma or Marin counties between 1995 and 2001, “Telecom Valley” became our regional answer to Silicon Valley in terms of local businesses that provided employees and residents with equity market exposure to a wild, rocket ride that began to move closer to earth in 2000 and then in 2001 in earnest. For regional economic development, the infrastructure to support ideation, innovation (or, in rare cases, invention) and adaptation radiating from the local area is difficult to maintain in suburban and rural areas. The financial reward for ideation, innovation and adaptation comes from equity markets. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500), a classic market index, has increased approximately 14% in 2025 (as of Dec. 15, 2025) and 49% since January 2022. This includes sharp cuts after Silicon Valley’s collapse in March 2023 and after tariffs were increased generally in April 2025. Railroads provided infrastructure and transportation options that remain with us today. Throughout the latter half of the 19th century, when railroads expanded quickly in Europe and the United States, they transformed commerce and travel. Over time, corporate ownership consolidated, and the original entrepreneurship faded. Computers, the internet and wireless technologies (like

roadways when automobiles were invented and then generally adopted as transportation) brought competition and complementarity to current infrastructure, redistributing revenues from the original technologies over time at a much faster pace. That consolidation ended with sharp equity-market corrections. With economic history as a guide, will AI become the next railroad, telecom boom or something different? We have to expect the end game from the intellectual property owner’s perspective (think stockholder in companies where patented AI is owned) is to maximize labor replacement and thus place AI and associated assets so that consumer markets remain intact. Still, profits are maximized from the intellectual property. This is what is socially concerning about the unregulated movement of this (or any) technology, and how equity market bets on the full fruit of AI technology play out versus consumer markets and societal stability. A trilemma is forming. g

Dr. Robert Eyler is professor of economics at Sonoma State University and president of Economic Forensics and Analytics in Sonoma County.

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NorthBaybiz 19

Happy New Year to our HALTER Project Community Celebrating Hope & Gratitude in 2026 Each year, we share “Giving Lists” of organizations helping animals and people prepare for and rebound from disaster. We are perpetually filled with gratitude for the astounding scope of good work locally and worldwide. This year, we chose to recognize the value and power of YOU. With so many needs, in so many places, what’s most important is to simply do what you are able, for causes that are meaningful to you. Do small, individual acts really matter? YES! Every thoughtful act has value. Gifts of time are as important as coin. Supporting work that is close to your heart can be healing. And, collaboration, even if it’s just a group meeting over coffee, amplifies resilience. We are blessed to live in a place of beauty, compassion, creativity, and generosity. Whatever gift you choose to share, YOU are making the world a better place one home, one neighborhood, one purr, tail wag or whinny at a time.

20 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

Only In Marin

Of wine, cars, tariffs, gratitude and sadness

By Bill Meagher A new shop has opened in the Marin Country Mart, the imported wine shop known as Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant. The shop that features European wines is an offshoot of the Berkeley store that carries the same moniker. That store has been around since 1972. Kermit Lynch enjoys a heavyweight reputation in the wine business carrying a wide variety of wines from the simplest wines to offerings topping at more than $1,000 a bottle. The new store comes at an interesting time in the wine industry. The Trump administration has famously decided that tariffs on imported goods as economic

passed away Nov. 24 in Mill Valley. He was 91. I was lucky enough to have worked with Steve when I was covering hard news for that newspaper along with my gifted writing partner Peter Seidman, though most of my contact was with managing editor Linda Xiques, who was equally gifted. Though Steve’s life was much more than journalism, that’s how I knew him. I can’t count the number of times I walked into the office to talk stories with Linda, and I would look over at Steve who was pounding away at the keyboard, a sign on his door asking for quiet as a “writer is writing.” Once I was doing a story about the development of Graton Resort & Casino, which at the time was being considered for property near Sears Point. My reporting led me to then-

Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

policy is a way to both raise revenue for the federal government and stick it to countries that Trump feels have either mistreated the U.S. or not properly puckered up to him. The wine industry is also being hit by an oversupply of grapes putting pressure on growers as well as vintners holding onto a myriad of brands. Finally, a new generation of drinkers have been demonstrating they may not hold the same affinity for wine as imbibers who came before them, which will broadly impact the industry going forward. Price Family seeks to grow in San Rafael According to the San Rafael planning department, the Price Family Dealerships, based in Larkspur, wants to expand in the Mission City and has a two-year permit in hand that could let it expand its Volvo (the box that safety comes in) dealership across these four properties: 137-141 Front St., 601-611 Francisco Blvd. and 12 Harbor St. Price plans to increase its Volvo footprint as well as move its Polestar dealership off Redwood Highway. Polestar is the former electric vehicle arm of Volvo which went public in a $20 billion deal in 2022. The Price presence in Marin is significant. Besides Volvo and Polestar, Price has Marin dealerships that sell Cadillacs, Jaguars, Ineos Grenadier, Toyotas, Land Rovers and Lotus. Careful readers, and you know who you are, might note that the only U.S.-based brand in that tidy little list is Cadillac. All the other brands are imported from the United Kingdom, France and Japan, although Toyota has a trio of plants in the United States. One word: Tariffs.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, whose son Doug was hired by the Graton tribe to advise. Barbara and Rep. Lynn Woolsey had their own battle going on over the proposed casino, and I had reached out to Boxer’s office for comment. Boxer had been a Sun reporter before getting into politics and she and Steve remained good friends. I gave Steve a heads up about Boxer out of respect for their friendship, but I was handling the story the way I always worked, I was going to write what I found. Steve asked me if I had called Boxer and I said I had, but with no reply. He said he’d call me back, and when he did, he said she would be in touch and to write the story without concern for how it made her look. He was supportive and professional when someone else would have been defensive and protective. Another time I had done a column about baseball during one of its labor disputes, and in it I wrote of my father who played in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization alongside Jackie Robinson. Steve called me and said they wanted to hold the piece because he thought it was special. He then said quietly, “I think you’ve found your voice.” Those few words brought tears to my eyes. That column hangs in my office, the only piece of my writing I have on the wall. I said earlier that I was lucky to have worked with Steve. Lucky isn’t a strong enough word. My heart goes out to Steve’s family . g

Meagher is a contributing editor at NorthBay biz and writes this column each month. He also does features and is a senior reporter at The Deal, a Manhattan- based digital financial news outlet where he covers a back alley off Wall Street, SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies.

Your Marin Moment Steve McNamara, the former publisher of the Pacific Sun newspaper,

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 21

Beauty or Beast?

Federal cuts to needs- based programs have nonprofits seeing big, not-so-beautiful trouble ahead

By Susan Wood

22 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

NorthBaybiz 23 NorthBaybiz 23

The many chairs lined up before Thanksgiving at a Sonoma County food distribution site portended more than the holiday’s typical dinner-table need to United Way of the Wine Country President and CEO Lisa Carreño. The plethora of seats signaled a slippery slope into poverty that many North Bay residents may be about to embark upon since the July passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to North Bay insiders on the front lines of food assistance, housing support and health care. When asked if she predicts significant numbers of people will be launched into poverty as H.R. 1 fully takes effect, Carreño is emphatic. “It absolutely will,” Carreño says. “Our concern is a ripple effect across this country from self-inflicted wounds that will push our world into a global depression.” She says she sees “very little resolve” among U.S. leadership to address policy inequities that further widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor, rendering “less than 1% [of the population] enriched—and we’re subsidizing their wealth.” The congressional legal behemoth dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act marks the largest downscaling of health- and-human-services funds in U.S. history, amounting to $1 trillion, while featuring $4.5 trillion in tax breaks, reported the Legal Defense Fund, a U.S. law advocacy organization. The bill is punctuated by cuts for 42 million participants on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). It also makes immediate reforms for over 71 million enrollees on Medicaid, as well as the U.S. health care exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act. According to nonprofit leaders specializing in food assistance, housing support and health care services across the North Bay, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Tens of thousands of Sonoma County residents will lose or face barriers to essential benefits like Medi-Cal [California’s version of Medicaid], CalFresh, housing assistance and tax credits. And work requirements and immigrant exclusions “will push families deeper into poverty,” Carreño says. Those exclusions also threaten the livelihood of farmworkers, especially the half of the 83,000 immigrants in Sonoma County who are undocumented. Work requirements, meanwhile, will take parents administering childcare out of the home, forcing them to pay out of pocket or do without childcare altogether. Of the over 135,000 Sonoma County residents on Medi-Cal, more than 30,000 individuals will be required to work to receive benefits by the end of 2026. Times were already

The data shows the trend worsening. During the Oct. 14, 2025 Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting, a presentation highlighting the public impacts of H.R. 1 showed funding impacts worsening in fiscal year 2026-27. Demand for assistance through the United Way’s 211 Sonoma resource hub has nearly doubled to 9,421 new site visitors checking out programs and services from July to November. “The nonprofit- and community-safety net is already stretched thin and will face surging demand for food, housing, mental health and legal services as federal benefits are withdrawn,” Carreño says. Current data reveals a tripling of requests for housing and food assistance. Carreño says “it’s reasonable to expect” at least a doubling of need over the next 12 months. The nonprofits providing these basic needs are hungry for solutions. At the top of the list is Redwood Empire Food Bank, run by CEO Allison Goodwin. “We’ve seen a direct impact with SNAP reductions. It’s hard to know what will happen with H.R. 1, but we are seeing more volume in numbers of new families signing up,” she says. Goodwin cites a 300% increase to REFB, the North Bay’s primary food assistance program, with servicing for 500 new families per month for “the first time.” Adding to the challenges of increased need led by higher grocery prices, inflation and tariffs are the cuts faced earlier this year in which nine truckloads of food were held back from U.S. Department of Agriculture programs. She equates the ebb and flow of answering the call to those in need as “a whack-a-mole” scenario. For instance, simple seasonal changes exacerbate financial strains, as households endure the budget crunch of elevated heating bills. “Are we concerned? That’s an understatement,” says Jared Call, director of advocacy and public policy for the California Association of Food Banks. To illustrate the widespread need, California food banks served 4.5 million people a month during the pandemic. Now, it’s over 6 million. “The need is felt across the state,” Call says, leading to “tremendous fear and stress.” Health care may bear the brunt of that anxiety as a double-whammy—as cuts to medical programs will lead to

the lower income people in poor health not seeking the care they need until their conditions worsen enough to send them to the emergency room. “As the funding dries up, less people come in for screenings. More

tough. According to the May release of the United Ways of California’s annual Real Cost Measure gauging the population’s ability to cover the cost of living, 1 in 3 Sonoma County families (45,000 households) was found to be struggling to meet basic needs.

episodic care means people wait because they’re afraid of the

(medical) bill,” says Santa Rosa Community Health CEO Gaby Bernal Leroi.

“Then they go to the hospital and ERs get

ñ o, president and CEO of the

Allison Goodwin, CEO of the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Lisa Carre

United Way of the Wine Country.

24 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

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overwhelmed. That’s the trickling impact that effects all people, and health care [costs] go up for everyone.” Stresses Bernal Leroi: “It’s much more challenging to get people in [for preventive care] if they don’t have insurance.” And all those people being dropped from Medicaid, “they’ll go back to being uninsured,” she says. Of the community health center’s more than 42,000 low-income clients seen in eight clinics across the greater Santa Rosa region, 74% were covered by Medi-Cal and 11% by Medicaid, it reported in a patient snapshot. That same percentage qualifies as self-pay or uninsured. About a third of these low-income patients consists of children. Beyond the challenges for patients, the workforces of these community health organizations are also expected to experience the burden of burnout and stress among health care workers as more patients show up with more pressing issues. Clinicians will be forced to consider remedies and treatments that patients no longer covered by Medicaid or Medi-Cal can afford. This is what Bernal Leroi refers to as the “moral injury” of health care resulting from these cuts. “We’re already hearing anecdotal evidence of people’s concerns about coming in,” she says. That’s why the local

public outreach campaign to discuss the matter with patients at the time of scheduling and at arrivals in the Sonoma County clinics. Napa County’s health care arena is bracing for its own impact. “These changes [under the legislation] will directly impact our hospitals and the communities we serve,” says Luke McMurray, spokesman for Adventist Health of Roseville, with facilities in St. Helena and Napa. McMurray indicates the hospital staff is currently combing through the text of the bill to draw conclusions on its implications. “While the full extent of the impact of this bill on our hospitals is unclear, we do know that hospitals could lose significant Medicaid revenues over the next decade,” he says. “Hospitals will also see an increase in uncompensated

care losses, resulting from coverage losses and the cuts states will inevitably be forced to make due to federal funding reductions.” The county’s clinics and resource centers are also preparing for the worst. “There’s already a need for our services because of the higher cost of living,” UpValley Family Centers Executive Director Jenny Ocón says. The struggling

health care entity has remained proactive in fending off the effects as much as possible. The staff is waging a

Gaby Bernal Leroi, Santa Rosa Community Health CEO.

Jenny Ocón, UpValley Family Centers Excecutive Director.

26 NorthBaybiz

January 2026

wine industry is also adding to the challenges of farmworkers in the resource center’s coverage area, says Ocón. “Farmworkers didn’t have as much work [in 2025],” she says.

Early Childhood Landscape report, which ranks 1 in 3 children (about 37,000) living in poverty. The 2025 federal poverty level for a four-person family is $32,150 per year. “In a county where nearly one in three residents relies on Medi-Cal, even a small rise in the uninsured will mean more preventable emergency room visits and crushing medical debt,” says Karissa Moreno, executive director of the Center for Well Being. She continues: “When families are forced to choose between paying medical bills and paying for food, rent or utilities—especially for Sonoma County renters who are already deeply rent-burdened—they are pushed closer to homelessness and hardship.” In Sonoma County, just over half of occupants in tenant households are considered “rent burdened,” defined as paying 30% or more of their monthly income on rent. Moreno suggests the One Big Beautiful Bill “will push more of our neighbors” into poverty, hunger and medical crisis. She predicts 30% of Medi-Cal recipients will lose their medical coverage. “This is something that’s going to have a ripple effect on every member of society. Most people think it will only affect the low-income and undocumented, but it will affect all when people can’t have access to primary care,” Moreno says. g

Moreover, immigration crackdowns have stoked

fear among members of the undocumented community who may refrain from seeking professional medical help. Ocón refers to the resulting trend as a shadow society. “If wages have kept pace, that’s one thing—but they haven’t,” she says. “These things are going to have a major effect. As we’re going into the next year with cuts to Medicaid, it’s not looking like a pretty picture,” Ocón says. Ocón indicates the one silver lining lies with how much organizations and groups care and are willing to put up a proactive fight. This includes the Catholic

Church. Shortly after the H.R. 1’s July 4 passage, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services predicted the legislation “will cause the greatest harm to those who are especially vulnerable in our society.” Broglio labeled the cuts as

Please email comments to rpadilla@NorthBaybiz.com

“unconscionable” for health care and food assistance and tax breaks to the wealthy as methods to “increase inequality.” Broglio’s line of thinking was joined by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which offers $1.7 billion in aid to more than 5 million every year seeking food pantries, among other services. John Berry, the national president, claimed the cuts inserted in the 244- page bill will have “a staggering impact on the poor,” the Catholic Review reported. Like most lengthy pieces of legislation, the average American won’t read the bill and, therefore, will be caught off guard by its consequences, Georgetown Center for Poverty and Inequality Executive Director Lelaine Bigelow said in the Catholic Review. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 35.9 million Americans lived in poverty in 2024, representing over 10% of the population. Founded in 1994 with a goal of achieving a healthier community through clinical services and community programs that empower people, the Center for Well Being of Santa Rosa cites data from First 5 in Sonoma County’s

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NorthBaybiz 27

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